LOT 0290

Old Babylonian Terracotta Head of a Demon

1900-1800 B.C.

3 3/8 in. (191 grams, 87 mm).

Modelled in the round, depicting the (severed?) head of a Mesopotamian demon, with iconic facial features in relief; hollow with a vent to the neck; produced from a two-piece mould, with a median seam through the facial features.

Private collection, Israel.
with Holy Land House of Antiquities, Jerusalem, 1980s.
Acquired by the current owner from the above, 2001.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12878-241678.

Cf. The British Museum, museum numbers 127443 and 128821, for Humbaba faces; see Moorey, P. R. S., The Terracotta Plaques from Kish and Hursagkalama, c. 1850 to 1650 B.C., Iraq, vol.37, no.2, 1975, pp.79-99. Cf. also for a similar head Zaina, F., The Urban Archaeology of early Kish, 3rd Millennium BCE levels at Tell Ingharra, Bologna, 2020, pl.CXLII, no.7.

Within traditional Mesopotamian religion, Humbaba was a creature regarded as the guardian of the cedar forest and the brother of Pazuzu. He was represented as a giant who had been raised by the sun god, Shamash. However, this head could also refer to another deity or demon, like one of the heads found in the Kish excavations.